Automatic musical instrument.



No. 832,295. PATENTED 00122, 1906. J. H. CHASE & w. P. BAYER. AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1906- 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

No. 832,295 PATENTED OUT. 2, 1906.

- T J. H. CHASE & W. F. BAYER.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 832,295. PLTENTED ocT; 2; 1906.

' J. H. CHASE 6: w. P. BAYER.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION IILBD JAN. 31. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

04 3% M 77 2872 asses W .7 [1067! /'J' UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

JOSEPH HERBERE CHASE AND WILLIAM FREDERICK BAY ER, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THE CHASE & BAKER COMPANY, OF BUF- FALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed Oct. 2, 1906,

Application filed January 31, 1906. Serial No. 298,784

To all whom it may concern.-

-- Be it known that we, JOSEPH HERBERT One of the objects of the invention to soconstruct the automatic mechanism that it can be applied to and combined with an ordinary piano without interfering with the piano-action or necessitating a reconstruction or rearrangement of its parts and so that the piano-action and the keys can be readily removed for repairs and adjustment without disturbing the automatic action.

A further object is to so organize the pneumatic action that it can be conveniently removed to afford access to the strings for re newing or repairing them.

The invention has the additional object to improve the instrument. in other respects with a view of securing a simple and compact construction of its parts. In the accompanying drawings, consisting of three sheets, Figured 'is a front elevation of a piano embodying the invention, the panels of the front wall being removed and the parts of the piano-action omitted. Fig. 2 is a transverse central section of the instru ment. Fig. 3 is a similar section, on an enlarged scale, of the wind-chest and adjacent parts. Fig. 4 is an enlarged rear view of the last mentioned parts, a number of the stickers of the piano-action being shown by dotted lines.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

A indicates the sounding-board of the piano, A the strings, and A the piano-action, which may be of any ordinary or approved construction. B indicates the keys, also of common construction, B the keytable, and b thecustomary rods or stickers for transmitting motion from the keys to the hammer-operating devices of the pianoaction.

C indicates the wind-chests of the autoy matic attachment, which is arranged in front of the strings and below the key-table. D is a tracker-board.arranged'in front of the piano-action A, and d d are thespool and take-up roller, respectively, upon which the customary music-sheet is wound.

E indicates the motor neumatic arranged in horizontal rows at t e front side of the Wind-chest and having their bases or lower boards secured to the upper sides of I the valve-boards or tops of the several windches't sections. Each of these neumatics acts upon one of the piano-keys through a sticker f, a vertically-swinging lever f, and a second sticker'f. This ever is pivoted to therear side of a longitudinal supporting bar or rail G, secured to the upward extensions of the side walls of the wind-chest and is connected with the movable board of thecorresponding motor-pneumatic by the front sticker The rear sticker f 2 passes through a vertical opening in the key-table and rests loosely upon therear arm of the lever, while its upper end bears against the under side of the rear arm of the piano-key, so that when the pneumatic is collapsed the rear arm of the key-lever is raised and caused to actuate the corresponding hammerlof the piano-action. The stroke of each motor-pneumatic is limited by a vertically-adjustable stop or button h, carried by the front arm of the corresponding lever f and adapted to strike a padded stop-bar h, arranged below the supporting-bar G and secured to the side walls of the wind-chest, as best shown in Fig.

3. By the use of these adjustable stops the stroke of the piano-keys produced by the pneumatic action can be regulated to correspond to that produced by the keys when operated manually, and the stroke of the keys can be limited to prevent their being raised so far as to interfere with the proper recoil of the hammers.

Each pneumatic E is connected by a channel 'i with a valve-chamber J, which communicates with the atmosphere by an upper air-port .j and with an exhaust-chamber k by lower exhaust-ports 7'. These two ports are controlled by a double puppet-valve "j" j operating to close one'port when the other is TOG to the bottom of the piano-case. boards C1 of the vwindchest sections, to

opened, so as to alternately collapse and expand the pneumatic in a well-known manner.

The stem of'the puppet-valve rests upon a diaphragm orpneumatic 1, covering a chamber Z, which communicates withan air chancuredto the rear edge of the key-table B,

while the chambers n are formed injan upper horizontal bar'or rail N, which is rigidly connected with the bar N by the metallic tubes 70/. These tubes and the upper and lower bars N N constitute a tracker-flame or comb, and the tubes are properly spaced to permit the stickers b of the piano-action to pass freelybetween the same, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The upper bar N is located on the front side of these stickers,- and the tubes n incline rearwardly from the bottom of said bar to' the top of the lower. bar N. v

As best shown. in Fig. 3, each chamber n I of the bar N is divided by a fine gauze diaphragm or-strainer into upper and'lower "compartments,- with which the corresponding tracker-tubes n and n are respectively connected, this diaphragm serving to prevent the entrance'of dust, lint, &c., into the wind- 'chest. The bar N is preferably divided vertically and longitudinally into front and rear sections n a and the intercepting diaphragms 0 are arranged in the portions of the chambers n formed in the rear section. The wind-chest is supported by a pair of uprights P, arranged at opposite sides of the ining parts, a tracker-board, a wind-chest com- 1 prosed of a fixed rear section and a removable strument and extending from the key-table The back which the flexible tubes 1 are connected, .are

while the remaining. ortions of, said sections mova ly secured thereto by transverse bolts 'q, the channels 1*, connected with the trackerducts, being formed partly in the removable portion of the Windchest, as shown.

R is anair-chamber connected with said bellows andcommunicating with the several exhaust-chambers 7c of the wind-chest in a common manner.: The chamber R is suit-- ably secured to the under side of the windchest. When' the'instrument is played by hand, the keys .operate directly on the stickers b'of the piano-action in the ordinary manner, the pneumatic action remainin inoperative, inasmuch as its stickers f no connection with the keys.

are separable from t e back boards and re--- front portion and partly in the fixed rear I and the manual-keys, of-a trac er-board, a R s the exhaust-bellows o erated by theusual pedals R or other suita 1e means, and

v I When the in-- Q strumen't ls'operated automatically'by the use of the perforated music-sheet, the motorrocking the corresponding levers f and operating the companion piano hammers through themediuin of the lower stickers f the piano-keys, and the upper stickers b.

By the improved construction and arrangement of the parts above described any of the keys canbe removed for repairing the same without disturbing any of the parts of the piano-action or the pneumatic action, and the piano-action'can also be taken out of the .8

case without interfering with or requiring the removal of the tracker-tubes or other parts of the pneumatic action, the metal tubes n and the rails 'N" N remaining permanently in place and ermitting the ready 8 withdrawal of the stic ersb from between the same. Likewise the main or front or-- tion of the wind-chest, together with the levers f, the motorneumatics, and the exhaust-bellows R, carried by it, can be re- 9 moved by simplyremoving the bolts g and de'tachin the exhaust-bellows-from the pedals, t us permitting the wind-chest and the strings to be conveniently repaired withoutdisturbing or disconnecting thetracker- 9 tubes from the back boards 0 of the windchest'.

Our improvements are applicable to combined manual and automatic organs as well as pianos, and the term piano-action used 1 in theclaims comprehends the equivalent sound-producing parts or action of an organ.

We claim as our invention 1. The combination ofthe sound-producont section, motorneumatics .for the soundroducing parts mounted on the removab c section of the wind-chest, valvemechani'sm in the wind-chest controlling the I passage of the air to and from said pneu. matics, and tracker connections extending from the tracker-boardto the fixed section ,of the wind-chest, substantially .as set forth.

.2. The combination with the iano-action 1 tion removably secured to the rear section, I

motor-pneumaties mounted on the front por- 'tion of the removable sectionv and having their movable boards arranged above their fiXed'base-boards, levers carried by saicl removable section and arranged between the to thereof and the rear portion of the keyta le, the'front arms of said leversbeing con neeted with the respective'pneumatics, and stickers passing through the rear portion of the key-table and bearing loosely against the under sides of the keys and a ainst the rear arms of said levers, substantia ly as set forth:

4. The eombination'with the piano-action,

the keys and the key table, of a trackerboard arranged above the kes, a Wind-chest arranged below the key-tab e, motor-pneuinatic's acting on'the keys, valve mechanism in the Wind-chest controlling the assage of .the air to and from the pneumatlcs, and a tracker-frame or comb bar arranged on the front side of the pianoaction and having air passages or chambers comprising 'an' upper connected with the ducts ofthe 'tra'ekerboard, 'a lower bar secured to the key-table in rearzof the keys andhaving passages connected with the Wind-chest; and rigid tubes secured at their .ends tosaid bars and connecting corresponding passages thereof and passing-between the stickers of the pianoaetion, substantially-as 'set forth.

Witness our hands this 18th day of Jan- ;uary, 1906.

JOSEPH HERBERT CHASE. I

WILLIAM FREDERICK BAYLR,

WVitnesses CHAS; GFROERER,

BENJ. L. Burrow.- 

